Canelo: “I would have knocked out GGG’s opponents even easier!”

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is sounding out of this world confident going into his fight this Saturday night against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Canelo has increased his trash talking by another level, as he’s now saying he would have knocked out all the same guys that Golovkin did during his career. Canelo seems to be trying to suggest that he’s the same knockout puncher that Golovkin is.

One guy that Golovkin didn’t knock out is Danny Jacobs, and he’s someone that might beat Canelo if the two of them ever face each other while Jacobs is still in his prime of his career.

Canelo would have a very good chance of knocking out the same guys that Golovkin has stopped. It’s also possible that Golovkin would have knocked out everyone that Canelo has knocked out, and even the guys that he didn’t knock out like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout, Miguel Cotto, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. It’s difficult to imagine Golovkin not knocking those guys out. Mayweather might have been difficult because he would have been running around the ring trying to get away from GGG. But as far as Cotto, Hatton, Lara, Trout and Chavez Jr. goes, it’s hard to imagine Golovkin not knocking them out.

“Not at all,” said Canelo to BoxNation about whether he’s been ducking Golovkin. “I’ve heard that before from other fighters and other fights, and I ended up beating them, so I’m going to do what I do best. So on September 16th, everybody is going to know,” said Canelo.

Canelo may not have been ducking Golovkin, but his promoters at Golden Boy were clearly avoiding that fight for the last 2 years. Golovkin maintains that he would still not have gotten the fight with Canelo if he looked good in his last 2 contests against Kell Brook and Danny Jacobs. Golden Boy clearly stalled when it came to make the Canelo-Golovkin fight. Whether they were doing it to wait until Golovkin got old or perhaps until Canelo filled out, it’s hard to discern. Canelo put on weight in a hurry when he finally did decide to fight Golovkin, which makes one think that it was a bunch of baloney that Golden Boy has been talking about Canelo not being big enough for Golovkin during the past 2 years.

READGGG-Canelo: How 2017’s biggest superfight can play out

“I’m a complete fighter now, and that’s what I like to do in my fights, give the fans everything,” said Canelo. “I love working out, working hard in the gym, training, learning. I keep going forward and doing a little bit better than my opponents,” said Canelo.

Canelo seems to be the same fighter he was in 2013. He’s just gotten bigger. He’s not faster, and his power is the same. He knocked out Amir Khan and Liam Smith, but those aren’t middleweights. Khan is a welterweight, and Smith is a 154-lb. fighter.

“Very easily,” said Canelo when asked if he would do the same thing to Triple G’s opponents that he’s done in knocking them out. ”I would have done the same thing. It’s not to him I’m comparing. It’s that I would have done the same thing very easily, easier,” said Canelo.

Canelo appears to be minimizing Golovkin. That’s a psychological trick that fighters use to try and gain an edge over their opponents. Fighters tend to do this when they’re afraid and need to use every tactic available to try and win.

It’s unclear if Canelo truly means what he says about him being capable of knocking out Golovkin’s past opponents easier. Canelo’s recent failure to knockout a weight drained Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. suggests that he wouldn’t be able to knockout the same guys that Golovkin has knocked out in a better fashion.

“He does things very well in the ring,” said Canelo. “It’s not that he’s a big knockout puncher. He’s a boxer and he does things very well in the ring. It’s one of those things. He has power, yes, but if you’re there to take that power,” said Canelo.”If you’re there to take it and receive the punches. He’s never fought a guy that’s stood in front of him and be able to get away from the big punches, and counter punch him, and I think that’s what’s going to be the difference, but if you’re there standing in front of him to receive the punches, of course he’s a big puncher. But he’s going to be fighting someone different next time. We’ll see what happens September 16, and we’ll see who knocks out who,”said Canelo.

READDe La Hoya surprised Golovkin favored to beat Canelo

Canelo sounds like he believes Golovkin won’t be able to hit him in this fight. Miguel Cotto landed a lot of shots against Canelo, as did Liam Smith. Canelo almost lost to Cotto. Canelo might be overestimating his defensive ability. He’s got good head movement, but he still gets hit, especially to the body. If Golovkin crowds Canelo, he’s going to be able to hit Canelo with something.

The two things that could decrease the effectiveness if Canelo’s impregnable defense is the weight that he’s put on, and his problems being able to fight hard for 3 minutes of every round. If Canelo gets tired against Golovkin and goes to the ropes, he’s going to have a hard night in there. The weight that Canelo has put on could be his undoing.

“I think I can go 9 more years, and that’s been my plan,” said Canelo. “I would like to retire at 35, and I think I can go 9 more years, but we’ll see.”

It’s too early to say whether Canelo will be able to fight another 9 years. He can obviously do whatever he wants. Golden Boy will make sure they match him well against guys they feel he can beat, but as he gets older, it’s going to be harder for them to match him if he’s surrounded by a division full of young lions. I think it’s doubtful Canelo will still be on top in 9 years. Once he starts losing, he’ll probably retire or make a move back down in weight to 154 if he can somehow still take the weight off to get down there. That be very hard for Canelo to do now that he’s bulked up to what appears to be the mid-180s.